Leaving An Impression

Posted by Steven Teskey on June 19th, 2006.

As a web designer from Calgary, Alberta, I specialize in CSS and XHTML. As well as having a background in usablilty and accessibility. I hope to bring fun back to the web, all the while feeding my passion for helping others.

http://www.unimagination.com

Steven Teskey has posted 4 articles.

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We all know of our presence on the web, every action we take may be considered good or bad in the eyes of any person that takes witness. The Internet is a history of our interactions with the rest of the world. So why should any of us really care about anything that I’ve just said? Simple, how we act leaves an impression on anyone that interacts with us or anything/anyone associated with us.

You may already realize this, and conduct yourself in a matter befitting of an image you wish to up hold, and that’s great, you already know the drill and reading on is pointless. For those who still don’t understand how their actions, say with their websites/blogs, will reflect on their brand identities should understand that your website is, in a sense, an extension of yourself. How you act outside of that website will ultimately decide how others look upon you.

We are an “internationally dependant” Internet, you cannot do something on your end without directly (or indirectly) influencing something else. Say you like to talk trash about others, but you try and maintain a professional outlook when on your portfolio site. Chances are that the web is going to catch up with you. You’ll eventually lose that reputation and gain another one, and this “new” reputation will definitely shy potential customers away from your services.

So what? What does this mean to me? I don’t have a portfolio site, I’m not trying to sell anyone anything, why should I care how I act? If you truly want, you don’t have to keep your antics in check at all, do as you please. For those who are trying to gather a following, a reader base, a potential customer base, or even some sort of reputation should heed my warning. Any negative action on your part can, and will, be found on any search engine, bringing down any shard of a formidable reputation. No one wants to read about web accessibility from a guy/girl that still uses tables and spacer images, or take friendly advice from someone who slams other’s work.

Think about who you want to be, or more importantly, who you are. Conduct yourself according to that little synopsis of yourself. Say your goals are to help people whenever possible, keep your comments, posts, forum replies, etc. very friendly and courteous. If you are the self proclaimed successor to Satan, live your life like it, make sure people know, your reputation as such will follow.

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This is something I really try to campaign for - ‘being nice.’ It really bugs me when people aren’t.

It isn’t hard to offer constructive criticism in forums/blogs instead of getting into a slanging match. It isn’t hard to be polite when on the net.

Bickering over nothing doesn’t help your reputation, the site that you’re commenting on and the people who visit that site.
Play nice everywhere. Or risk your reputation. Enough said.

Andrew Faulkner
June 19th, 2006
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I have found this is exactly the case with articles I write in my Journal. Unfortunately I am not the best writer and often have spelling or grammatical errors (a problem I am swiftly attempting to rectify). People often comment on this and it is hard to win you audience if they have initial negative vibes towards you. However, as you say, being polite doesn’t heart anybody and I try to hold my hands up and say “yep, I can’t spell!” - I hope this makes my brand image honest and able to know my limits. I now try to put everything into word and let that help me out.

Nice article – by the way. Brand image is everything!

Matt Davies
June 19th, 2006
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I find the real difficulty in commenting, interms of upholding an image / avoiding conflict, is that across this medium it’s very hard to detect things such as sarcasm. It’s very easy to get held up in a flame war over something as trivial as a misinterpretation of meaning. We as people are so used to being able to have our messages being sent across, whether it be through speech or any other form of communication, that when we encounter someone who cannot, or will not, understand we get all up in arms. This is primarily why I take a great deal of time to think about what I should say, if I read to the end of what I’m about to submit as a comment and have the slightest of second thoughts, I either a) don’t post, or b) rewrite it until I’m satisfied with the turn out.

Friends are taken for granted, and enemies are always in abundance. The key is knowing how to keep your friends, as they will attract more.

@Matt - For spelling, just pick up the Google toolbar, it has a built in spell checker that works wonders.

Steven Teskey
June 19th, 2006
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About talking trash about others … There once was this guy who had a folio and a blog to go with it - He liked talking smack about clients he has problems with. His client list started to fade and he was wondering why. Ultimately I guess potential clients and current clients were chased away because they saw how he deals with client issues. …Talking about the whole thing coming around to bite you in the behind.

On the other hand, I’ve heard that having a type of blog or journal could increase your chances of landing jobs. Hard to tell though but maybe because employers have a better impression of the person when reading his/her posts?

j0sh
June 20th, 2006
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“Ultimately I guess potential clients and current clients were chased away because they saw how he deals with client issues. …Talking about the whole thing coming around to bite you in the behind.”

Biting the hand that feeds you. Not good. Not professional. Not right.

Andrew Faulkner
June 20th, 2006
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The only problem with this is that folks can create ‘alter egos’ to troll as much as they wish with less chance of repercussions. The anonymity of the internet encourages and breeds this behavior. Unforunately, as long as there is that anonymity, I don’t see this going away.

P.J. Onori
June 20th, 2006
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Never be nasty, be constructive. I never talk about my clients unless its in a positive light. To me, what goes on between my clients and me is private until a job is complete. Then its like “ok I’ve worked with these guys and this is what we’ve produced”. How it was produced has little or no consequence. If you like the product you will then ask me what my process is. I always think that’s a great way to do business.

I think what we are talking about here is brand association. Blogs are great if used correctly - but as demonstrated, can also be counter productive. You have got to be on your toes at all times.
Matt

Matt Davies
June 21st, 2006
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I think blogs are a fantastic medium to showcase what you, as a brand, are about. I can say I’m all about proffessionalism and such, but how I actually communicate in my blog will either reflect that, or negate it. If your blog is your product, to say that I’m not trying to sell you something, I just want you to read it, how you write in it and what you write about will ultimately determine your following. Whether you’re backed by a design community, because your main focus is design practice, or you have a following of writers, due to your style of writing, all will be determined by how you choose to use your blog.

If you have a buisness to worry about, a blog can be a dangerous thing, it may also help, but chances are if you were to say something like Iframes are the wave of the future, you’ll be able to watch your design practice go up in flames. If you’re just a blogger though, you’ll always recieve readers, but what kind will be determined by your writing style and ability. Unlike in buisness where contraversy will cause a drop in client base, such an event would be where a blog picks up a new reader base.

Steven Teskey
June 21st, 2006
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Sometimes the impression is concentrated too much that either us or the client tends to forget core values that is to produce quality products. :)

Danny Foo
June 23rd, 2006
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A similar topic was written about on FreelanceSwitch. Just in case you’d like to continue reading into the subject.

Steven Teskey
April 16th, 2007
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